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Here at Anything But Cute we love to see all the seasoned and expert mixed media artists, but we also want to encourage those who are just getting their feet wet. Our design team will always be on the lookout for these exceptional artists, and you just never know when we might be giving out something special to a talented mixed media newcomer.

Make sure to put 'newbie' after your name in the linky so we know who you are.

Monday, January 2, 2017

It is a sad post I write today, as it will be the last one here at Anything But Cute. It was a very difficult decision for me to make, but life has taken some turns and it's time for me to focus my attention elsewhere.

I am so grateful to each and every one of you for all of your support over the last year and a half. This blog has been one of my favourite crafting experiences and I am honoured to have met so many wonderful and talented artists through those linky thumbnails!!

A special thank you to the ladies who made this challenge amazing, my design team! I have made such wonderful friends and I will always cherish our time together here. Please take a minute to visit all these ladies and follow them on their personal blogs.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Hello and Happy Holidays! Niki here. We apologize for being a day late, we've had some technical issues behind the scenes. Thank you to every single person that was able to enter my Rustic Glam challenge. I knew it would be a challenge and am overjoyed to see that you all rose to the occasion and nailed it with such amazing designs! Huge round of applause to you all! After much thought and deliberation I was finally able to choose a winner.

I was absolutely flabbergasted about the texture and bling on this amazing design. It has everything I would consider rustic and glam. I just want to reach out and touch all of the yummy texture and then had this on my wall! Outstanding and so very awesome sauce!

Congratulations Jenny! Pamellia will be in touch by email to send you a personalized winner's badge and to provide details about being our Feature Artist for the next challenge.

This altered jar has the bling and the burlap touches any rustic glam girl would love and that is why I enjoy it so very much. The flowers and the twine along with the lace are so chic and beautiful! I would totally put this in my bathroom and use it to fancify my q-tips. Wowzers and awesome sauce!

I found it so hard to choose a favourite this month, there were so many outstanding entries! Jennie stole my heart with her gorgeous handmade flowers, the beautiful crackle, the wonderful chicken wire and the dreamy stars.... Jennie's tag just epitomises 'rustic glam' in my eyes!

Marty melted my heart with the warm plaid and gorgeous dimensional poinsettias on her beautiful Christmas tag. The touches of pearls and luxurious texture were the perfect glamorous additon to this beautifully designed tag. What an inspiration!!! Thank you Marty for sharing this amazing project with us!

There were so many stunning entries and it was really hard for me to pick a favourite this month. I have chosen Elli's fabulous tag at the end. I am in love with her yummy textures, beautiful muted tones and a brilliant layering! So glittery, so frosty, so awesome!

It was so hard to pick a favorite this month...I loved all of the Rustic Glam projects!! But in the end, I chose this amazing project by Nicole Wright!! I absolutely adore her Vintage Tree Lot Trailer!! It's so creative!! I am a life-long camper so this project just makes me happy!! The details are spectacular!! I want this for my fireplace mantle :)

I absolutely had to do a coin flip this month! There were so many wonderful entries! But in the end I chose Nicole's festive project, because there's something so kitschy about this trailer! And I do mean that in a good way, Nicole! How can you not look at this and just smile?! Way to go, and a great addition to the tree lot!

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A huge congratulation everyone! Thank you so much to everyone who played along with us last month and don't forget to grab your badges! You earned them!!

While the design team is taking December off we still will be around and commenting on your wonderful designs for this Holiday season! We all want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you back here in 2017!

Monday, December 5, 2016

Well the holidays are almost upon us, and we have decided to take a wee break for Christmas this year. We will be back on December 12th to announce the winners of the Rustic Glam challenge, and don't worry, we will have a brand new challenge for you on January 5th!

Thank you to everyone for all of your support over the last year. There have been so many gorgeous projects and talented artists, we are grateful for each one!

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Branka here and I am completely thrilled to introduce you to our Feature Artist for November, the lady who was the winner of my 'Friendship' challenge in September. Please welcome Joi fromJoi@RR.

Joi is an incredibly talented mixed media artist and a wonderful lady! Each piece of her fantastic artwork is full of passion, love and amazingly beautiful colors! I encourage you to visit her blog to see how brilliantly she combines rich textures, yummy colors and so many fabulous techniques! Joi loves to share her techniques on her blog and she is one super inspirational lady!

I am so excited about the project she created for our current challenge Rustic Glam. This spectacular piece of art is just perfect for Niki's challenge theme and it really showcases Joi's unique and marvelous style in art! Feast your eyes on this absolutely beautiful creation!

Month after month, without fail, I entered the ABC challenge - hoping. Why? Because it's one of my favorite places to be. They are such a sweet group of folks, super DT artists with fun mixed media challenges. And then, finally it happened, last month... I WON the challenge!!! Yippie Aye Ohhhh!!!

Ok...YES... admitting to a happy jig. :)I'm a mixed media artist. If you have an inkling to know more about me visit: joi-at-ranch-art.com!

At our ranch, rustic is undeniable! But glam? Well... a yellow flower on a cactus is glam! A new baby calf is glam! A deer resting in the pasture is glam! Heheheh - it's likely my definition of glam is much different than Niki, the hostess, had in mind for this challenge! However... if you have seen my artwork, you know that I love a bit of glitter, glitz and pizzazz . . . so, without any further ado . . . welcome to my RUSTIC GLAM creation.

I began with a 12" x 30" rustic piece of barn wood.

Using a stencil for the lettering; I drew in the design by hand.

And began painting in all my little designs with DecoArt Media Black Gesso. My liner brush by Dynasty sure helped!

Here is the RUSTIC part before the GLAM arrived on the scene. Oh, my stars . . . those trees are crooked. Ok, Joi - just don't think about that . . . perfection not needed . . . proceed forth to the finish!

I had drawn in a double layer of mountains and thought it would be fun to use some type of texture there - maybe even a stamped texture. I had been humming the song Silent Night and decided the project needed some music - right?!

I found lovely music in the Victorian Romance Deco-Page paper set by DecoArt Americana. I tore the notes and placed them using DecoArt Media Matte Medium. After they were dry, I went back around the edges with some Titan Buff Fluid Acrylic to make it look a bit more unified with the line of the mountain ridge.

The open tree needed a bit of glam, too. I stamped one of the Susan K Weckesser Unity Journal Doodles inside.

Remember, a deer resting in the pasture is glam. How could I not include one??! Out came an old stencil that has no name any more and an ARTplorations Christmas Reindeer too.

For a bit more shimmer, I used DecoArt Metallic Lustre on the trees and across parts of the background. It's very hard to see in this picture, but it definitely added some glitz to the rustic wood!

For transforming my tipsy trees... I chose DecoArt's Snow Writer. It's so amazing to play with this snowy wonder.

The moon just seemed to need a bit more glam so cheese cloth mesh was added with matte medium.

Last but not least... the wild splish-splash of DecoArt Glamour Dust - black ice & ice crystal - from top to bottom!

Here are the products used for this rustic winter wonderland glam.

And a few close-ups!

Wishing each of you a calm and bright Thanksgiving and Christmas season . . . with hugs. j.

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WOW, what an exquisite piece of art this is! How can you not be inspired by this stunner to join in with our Rustic Glam challenge! Thank you so much Joi for such a great inspiration! It has been an honor having you here with us today!

You have until the 4th of December to play - and you'll find all the challenge details as well as lots of inspiration from the brilliant Anything But Cute design team by clicking on the challenge link.

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Rustic Glam

An Autumn Day

We are a monthly mixed media challenge blog with a new challenge the 5th day of every month at 7:00 am EST.

We welcome all types of crafts - cards, journal pages, scrapbook pages, 3D crafts, canvas art, altered items and any other handmade paper or mixed media arts. We encourage crafters of all skill levels and styles. shabby chic, grunge, vintage, elegant, stylish, retro, you name it (unless the challenge requests a specific style). As our name indicates, the only style we are not showcasing - are all things cute and adorable.